Danger ... huge waves prompt fears key building could collapse into the sea

The massive waves with a strong undertow caused havoc pummelling the studio building on Saturday morning, flooding the whole area around the structure and running onto the pathways.

The temporary structure, which is managed by Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), is due to be used by foreign journalists to cover the Competition’s aquatic marathon events staged on Copacabana Beach.

On Saturday, sunbathers on the iconic beach scrambled to get out of the way as their possessions were washed into the sea.

Lack of preparation ... barriers were dragged into the sea and water flowed onto the area on Saturday

Zee said: “I warned the Olympic authorities over 18 months ago not to build in this area because my research data spanning more than 25 years shows this zone is the third most dangerous coastal place to build on in Rio.

“This location has the greatest risk of waves advancing inland and onto the walkways, and there is already evidence the sea is eroding parts of the beach in front of the building.”

He continued: “The effects of a continued storm surge could cause the temporary Olympic building to become unstable and unsafe, and the force of the waves could crack and destroy the front of the structure causing it to break up and collapse into the sea.”

Immediate danger ... Dr Zee says 'the effects of a continued storm surge could cause the temporary Olympic building to become unstable and unsafe'

Rio is currently experiencing one of its worst cold fronts in years as the winter months kick in, with polar snaps bringing choppy seas and dropping temperatures to record lows of 8˚C.

The City has already registered some of the coldest days for the year.

Dr Zee warned that depending on the depth of the TV tower’s supporting pillars, the structure could be at risk.

He suggested building high sandbanks, laying down sand bags and strengthening the foundations of the tower structure by “reinforcing and deepening the metal support columns embedded in the sand.”

He predicted that without these measures the TV studio, which is expected to be in place until September this year, could be undermined as sea water seeps in underneath the structure and waves hit the front of the building.

Action required ... according to Dr Zee, the best way to combat the effect erosion and fierce waves will have on the structure is by laying down sandbags

“This is definitely not the best of times to put up a building on the beach,” Dr Zee observed as he pointed out that the sea is only five metres away from the first pillar of the studios.

OBS Chief Executive, Yiannis Exarchos, told The Sun that unlike the cycle path the organisation has carried out "detailed geological studies into how deep the support pillars for the TV tower should be," and the building is designed to withstand all types of bad weather.

He said: “The foundations buried in the sand are braced with metal and compacted with geotextile absorbent fabric covering three tonne sand bags which are packed around each embedded post.

"We are confident this building is structurally safe and any water that creeps in will not threaten the integrity.”